Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Unless you are a history fanatic, Butte is not a place you'll want to spend an entire week;
to see Montana, you need to get out in the fresh air and enjoy the natural beauty. A weekend
in Butte gives visitors to the state an incredible opportunity to learn about Montana's past
and see firsthand what happens to a place when all of its natural resources are exploited as
quickly as possible. Indeed, there is something of
The Lorax
in Butte, and something of
The
Giving Tree.
But no copper king or corporation can rob this place of its fascinating past and
modern-day spirit. And no one is willing to rule out a renaissance—least of all the citizens
of Butte.
MM
Old Butte Historical Adventures
If you only have one day to spend in Butte, plan to attend one of the walking tours put on by
Old Butte Historical Adventures
(117 N. Main St., 406/498-3424,
www.buttetours.info
,
scheduled tours 10am-4pm Mon.-Sat., by reservation only Sun., Apr.-Oct., by reservation
only Nov.-Mar., $15 adults, $12.50 seniors, students, and military, $8 children 5-11, free for
children 4 and under). They offer a variety of 90-minute walking tours of Butte's under-
ground city, complete with a speakeasy, a barbershop, and an old city jail. Other tours stay
above ground and visit the gorgeous Finlen Hotel, an old brothel, and the Mai Wah Museum
in Chinatown. What makes these tours so compelling, other than the mind-blowing history,
is the passion and knowledge of the guides. Reservations for these tours, which may make
you fall in love with Butte, are strongly recommended.
The Berkeley Pit
The transition from underground mining to pit mining in Butte began in 1955. The first
open-pit mine dug in pursuit of copper, the
Berkeley Pit
(east end of Park St., 406/
723-3177,
www.pitwatch.org
, Mar.-Nov., $2 to access the viewing stand) swallowed sev-
eral of the underground mines along with entire neighborhoods as the Anaconda Company
dug deeper and wider for smaller amounts of copper. The ore mined at the Berkeley Pit,
for example, was roughly 0.75 percent copper, compared to the original Marcus Daly ore,
which was 30 percent copper.
In 1982, because of steadily falling copper prices, the Berkeley Pit was shut down. With
it, the pumps from the nearby Kelley Mine, which had kept the pit dry for nearly 30 years,
were shut down as well. The mines under the city and the pit itself immediately started to
fill with highly acidic water. The water depth today surpasses 5,300 feet and continues to
climb, with more than two million gallons flooding in every day. The water itself is highly
